TEGUCIGALPA: Deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya made a surprise return home Monday in a dramatic twist to the country’s crisis on the eve of a meeting of world leaders in New York.
As thousands gathered in the capital to welcome the ousted president — who took refuge in the Brazilian embassy — many feared further violence after deadly clashes during his two previous attempts to return.
The country’s interim government extended a night curfew through Tuesday to prevent protests in support of Zelaya.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for calm and welcomed Zelaya’s return as an opportunity to end almost three months of political stalemate, as the UN General Assembly prepared for its annual debate to start Wednesday.
The Honduran military ousted Zelaya, sending him into exile in his pajamas on June 28, backed by the country’s courts and congress, at the height of a tense standoff over his plans to change the constitution.
Following international condemnation and aid freezes, Zelaya has voiced growing frustration at what he regards as the lack of more decisive action by the international community to oust the coup leaders and return him to power.
His return brought the spotlight back onto Honduras.
“Now that President Zelaya is back it would be opportune to restore him to his position under appropriate circumstances, get on with the election that is currently scheduled for November, have a peaceful transition of presidential authority and get Honduras back to constitutional and democratic order,” Clinton said in New York.
Clinton met there with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel peace laureate who brokered failed peace talks between the Zelaya camp and the interim government.
Arias urged both sides to sign July’s San Jose accord, which called for Zelaya’s return to the presidency, saying “I think this is the best opportunity, the best time.”
A smiling Zelaya, sporting his trademark cowboy hat, appeared earlier back in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa on the balcony of the Brazilian Embassy.
Zelaya told local media he wanted to “initiate a national and international dialogue” that would permit his return to power.
The interim leaders, who have threatened to arrest Zelaya, called for Brazil to hand him over.
“I call on the Brazilian government to respect the judicial order handed down against Zelaya and deliver him to the competent authorities of Honduras,” interim leader Roberto Micheletti said.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said earlier that his country had played no role in Zelaya’s return, but that it had simply accepted his demand for asylum in its embassy.
The Organization of American States (OAS) — a pan-American body which suspended Honduras after the coup — called for the interim leaders to ensure Zelaya’s safety during an emergency session.
Zelaya revealed few details of his journey to sneak back into the impoverished nation, but he said his return from exile in Nicaragua was part of a “peaceful strategy.
“We’re hoping for international cooperation so that Honduras returns to calm,” said Zelaya said.
Micheletti has said he will step aside after presidential elections are held on Nov. 29, and Zelaya is constitutionally barred from standing for a second term.
